"Let go of me before I sock you," Shine said.

"Whatever." Dabi let go so hard she almost tripped into the wall outside.

"You know, it's insane to piss off Shigaraki. Last guy who did that got turned into ash. Are you just cocky, or do you have a death wish?"

"Why was he here, then?" Shine said.

"It's not like you warned me before showing up, dumba---, and I thought you were going to give up on this idea. Whatever it is you're trying to accomplish, it's getting old." Dabi crossed his arms. "Don't you get tired of doing this?"

"I'd rather do this than nothing," Shine said soberly, "Do you know how boring my life is at that School? I can't leave, I can't call anyone, I barely visit my friends. We had to sneak in contraband just to watch a movie. This is, sadly, the most free my time is."

"That is truly pathetic," Dabi said, "but if you want to join the League, I'm sure they'd be happy to use all your intel on UA."

"No," Shine said, "but you're right, I can't keep doing this. I'll have to stop... eventually. This is just wasting time."

"Then why are you even showing up? You know we're not friends, right?" Dabi said, "You're an annoyance, and you're going to end up on the hit list. Don't you have an instinct for self preservation?"

Shine sighed. "Yes."

Silence.

"And?" Dabi said.

"Maybe I feel bad for you," Shine said quietly, "Maybe I think all this is a huge mess and it needs to be cleaned up. Maybe I'm used to these situations, and it just doesn't faze me like it used to."

Wally appeared next to her. "Wouldn't be the only one," he said not missing a beat, "Hi. Dabi, right? I don't know if we've really officially talked."

"And I care why...?" Dabi stepped back. "What did Birdman do to you, anyway? I'm surprised you're not arrested."

"Let's just hope he doesn't find me again," Shine said.

Wally put a hand on her shoulder. "We can take him, babe."

"You two are nauseating." Dabi made a face. "You should give it up. If I don't kill you, the rest of the League will. Depend on it. I'm losing patience anyway."

"Does that talk work on anyone else?" Shine said, "Please, Dabi, give us some credit. I know your type. I know you could try to kill me whenever it becomes more convenient for you to do so than to listen... I know how villains are. But do you know what we are like? We want something a little bigger than safety here. All you pros and villains go on about is safety, security, and all that stuff. It's just a fleeting thing, really. We protect other people, but ourselves? We can't worry about that. You see, Wally and I risk our lives every day on the job anyway, so what does it matter if it's with you, the kids, or out on the street? Don't you get it? This is just where we're choosing to do it, and we all have to die sometime. Might as well be doing something we believed in. I'd think you'd understand that sentiment."

Dabi stared at them. "Well, just so you know what you're in for," he said finally, "Don't expect me to keep covering for your a--. I just did that back there to keep the boss from coming down on me."

"I'm well aware." Shine winked at Wally.

"He's like if the Humanite was a punk," Wally said.

"Translation: Wally likes you too," Shine said, "Take it as a compliment. We don't like many bad guys... You know, you may not like the idea of being friends, but would it really hurt you to have a few outside the League? Having a back up plan is always smart. You can't trust the LOV, can you? Did you know that bit about Stain?"

"Just how much do you know about Stain?" Dabi asked.

"Just what I heard," Shine said, "and I can't look much into it, can I? But you could." She nodded meaningfully.

Dabi didn't say anything to that, just walked away. Shine and Wally slipped away.

***

For the rest of that week, things went on fairly quietly. 1-B and 1-A got along better; no one had any issues... It was getting a little too quiet at the school. Normally something bad would have happened by now.

[I'm sure in the Manga it did, but this is my version, so oh well.]

Things were so quiet in fact, that UA decided to spice things up with another joint training appointment, and this time it was taking them off campus.

Midnight said it would do the students good to go off campus for a bit.

Bakugo got a special tip about it before any other students, as Aizawa intended to literally spring it on them only after they got there, as a "logical ruse".

But this plot was foiled by Camie calling Bakugo up in excitement to tell him that their schools were going to be training together, and it was going to be "mad lit."

"What the frick are you talking about?" Bakugo said.

"It's the word on the street," Camie said, "The tea is piping hot-- only a few students know about it, but Shishikura always knows what the teachers are planning. I swear he must spy on them or something."

"Well, Aizawa hasn't said anything about it, so I think it's a load of bull," Bakugo declared.

"Maybe," Camie said carelessly, "but if it does turn out to be true, we should totes team up in the training."

"Why would I want to team up with a loser from Shiketsu?" Bakugo said.

"How am I the loser?" Camie said, "Let's just remember who was in remedial because they actually failed, brosef."

That roast was brutal. Bakugo couldn't think of anything to say.

"You want to try that again?" Camie said, very smugly.

"Got to he--!" he snapped, with wounded pride.

"Okay, okay, sorry fahm. It was a cheap shot, but you did kind of start it," Camie said, "Seriously, why not team up? It will give us an edge. That's what I want. It'll totally snatch my classmates' weaves... No one takes me seriously anyway."

"You mean you suck," Bakugo said.

"No, I'm literally terrifying!" Camie said off handedly, "but they don't take me seriously as a teammate, ya know? I mostly just do my own thing and copy them, but we're pretty in sync, remember? We could totally destroy everyone else."

Bakugo did like the sound of that.

"Eh, they won't let us anyway. The schools will just fight each other."

"That's such a waste. Man, if I wanted to team up with my old boring classmates, I could do it any day. Why not kick it with some new peeps for once?" Camie complained.

Bakugo frowned to himself. "You have a point... We'd get way stronger if we had to work with people we didn't already know! Heh! I have an idea. If it works, we can totally beat those losers!"

"Sweet, what is it?" Camie said.

Bakugo hung up without noticing he had just cut her off and went to find Shine. He figured he could get her to do it, but he didn't think Wally would be dumb enough. (Actually, he really just thought Wally hated him, but he wouldn't admit admit that to himself.) Shine was reading a book, as usual, and snacking on chocolate covered raisins.

 "Hey," she looked up, "What do you want? You never approach unless you want something."

Bakugo frowned. "Why would I want anything from you?"

"That's just the kind of person you are," Shine said, "Some people never start a conversation without a point, so what is it?"

"You like to be informed, right?" Bakugo said carefully.

"Yes." Shine sat up. "What of it?"

"What if I told you there might be a joint training exercise with Shiketsu High coming up soon?" Bakugo said.

"I'd have to ask you where Shiketsu High was..." Shine said blankly.

"The west school, dumba--! The one that rivals UA.... Bunch of wannabes!"

"Isn't that the one your friend is from?" Shine said.

Silence.

"It's the one Icy Hot got into it with." Bakugo decided to blame Todoroki.

"I see. Well, sounds like quite the challenge," Shine said, "but remember, we're not training anymore with you, so I don't see why I need to know. What is it you want?"

Bakugo stared at the ground sullenly. "The schools will probably be pitted against each other, but that's flipping lame because it would be more of a challenge to work with students we don't know. And I want to get stronger as fast as possible so I can surpass All Might."

"I'm pretty sure you could surpass All Might now as far as common sense goes," Shine said dryly, "and raw power is not very useful without it. Do you think this is the way to get stronger?"

"I don't care what you say. Training is how you get stronger," Bakugo said.

"If you say so," Shine said, "Sometime, you and I should talk about Samson. But I don't get what you want me to do about it. I don't plan the class schedule, I just keep you out of trouble."

"And you do a crappy job at that," Bakugo said.

"Is this supposed to make me want to help you?" Shine inquired. "Does insulting people into submission usually work for you?"

"Can't you just pull one of your weird mind tricks and get them to switch it up?" Bakugo said with difficulty, "You'd like it if we tried something different. Expand our horizons or some s---, right?"

"Is this your attempt at trying to wheedle me into something?" Shine said, "You think you know me?"

"Don't I?" Bakugo tried to sound cocky.

Shine laughed. "Honestly, it's kind of cute seeing you try... and I can't say no to that. Very well, but I warn you my vote may guarantee it doesn't happen. I don't think Aizawa trusts me very much."

"I wouldn't worry about that..." Bakugo muttered too low for it to be very clear.

Shine didn't talk to Aizawa about it, though, until the next day when he told 1-A without any warning whatsoever that they were going on a field trip. Everyone assumed this meant they were going to the USJ, especially when he said to get into costume.

Bakugo naturally said nothing to anyone about his tip.

Shine and Wally, however, said they'd be tagging along. "We are the supervisors, and we can't supervise if we're not there."

"So take the day off," Aizawa said, "The last thing I need is you causing trouble. Especially you, Likstar. Your sass is not going to be appreciated on this trip."

"Aizawa, I'm surprised you think you even have to say it," Shine said, innocently, "My sass is never appreciated anyway."

He glared at her.

"I'll behave myself," she said, "At least, as long as nothing too crazy happens... Anyway, I suspect this will be less abusing the students today. You want to have to keep all of them in line all by yourself?"

"Midnight is also coming," Aizawa said.

"I repeat, all by yourself," Shine said archly.

"Come on, man, let us come. We have to be on campus all the time," Wally said, "Let Eri get a chance to get out too."

"Fine," Aizawa sighed, "but you better not let her out of your sight."

So they joined them all for the bus ride. But after a while, the students noticed it wasn't going to the USJ. "Uh, sir, where exactly are we going?" Iida asked.

"We're getting on a train," Aizawa said.

"You know, we could have gotten you there in 2 seconds," Shine said from her position, with Eri on her lap. Eri was looking out the window.

Aizawa just glared at Shine.

One train ride later, they were more confused. "This doesn't look like a school," Mina said.

"Due to the distance between our schools, we got the hero board to let us use one of their testing facilities to train at," Midnight explained, "This is going to be so much fun!" She wiggled excitedly.

"Another reason I wanted to make sure we were here," Shine muttered to Wally, who was pretending he didn't see Midnight.

"Who's the other school? There's another school?" 1-A began to say, confused.

"What do you think's going on, man?" Kirishima asked Bakugo, who shrugged.

But only Deku and Todoroki clued into who it was, after a moment's more consideration. Todoroki got a look of horror. "It can't be..." he muttered.

As soon as they stepped in the building, his worst fears were confirmed.

"Todoroki!" Yoarshi yelled, speeding up to him like Roadrunner from Looney Toons. "Hello again! Looks like we're going to be training together once more!"

"You're late." Shishikura looked over at them flatly. "Our school was here a full 20 minutes before you."

"We were traveling for hours for this...?" Kaminari cringed, "I can't believe it's this guy!! He's such a jerk."

"Didn't you beat him before?" Jiro said.

Shishikura glared at her. "That was not me trying my hardest."

"Yo." Camie popped up next to Todoroki. "Hi, remember me?"

"Uh... sort of..." He edged away.

"Oh, these must be your remedial friends," Kirishima said.

Sero and Mineta were staring at Camie like she was a cover girl.

"What? That hottie is here?" Mineta said.

"And she knows Todoroki?" Sero said, "That lucky dog! He never said a word."

Bakugo glared at them.

"Oh, hi..." Camie glanced at him and frowned a little. "Yeah, I kind of remember you."

Bakugo only remembered then that he'd hung up on her, and he flushed.

"Bakugo..." Shishikura stared at him coldly. "I hope you know, I won't let you off so easily this time. You're a disgrace to hero society. I won't let you best our class."

Shine tilted her head. "Bakugo, who is this fellow?"

"Sounds mean," Wally muttered, hefting Eri onto his shoulders so she could see better. She was gawking at all the new students, some with very visible quirks... Monasa in particular.

"Cousin It?" Wally said strangely.

"Don't be rude, babe. He might be sensitive about it," Shine hissed.

"No, it's all right. I know it looks strange," Monasa said, "Gets tangled a lot too. They should just call me Rapunzel."

Wally chuckled. "I like you already."

"Just ignore this idiot," Bakugo told Shine airily, "He's a loser wannabe. Even Battery Pack could beat him."

"Hey, man, it wasn't easy!" Kaminari said.

"I am no loser!" Shishikura snapped at Bakugo, "I have standards is all. You reprobate! You have no respect."

"Are you just going to let this happen?" Wally asked Aizawa and Midnight while he was going off.

"It's no use if we get involved. They should work it out themselves," Aizawa said, "or their teachers should say something."

Shiketsu's class teacher looked terrified.

"Not much we can do." Midnight shrugged. "Besides, he just has a passion for excellence. It's admirable."

Wally stared at them in disbelief. Eri looked a little frightened of Shishikura's tone. "Right, well, okay.... Hey, Hero Nazi."

Shishikura stopped mid sentence to turn and give Wally a stunned look. "Are you addressing me?"

"Yeah, you," Wally said, "Why don't you focus on the training instead of tearing down your fellow hero students? Don't you know that's no way to make friends?"

Shishikura stared at him. "I'm not interested in making friends."

"That much was apparent," Shine muttered.

Camie glanced over at her and grinned crookedly.

"Well, then at least show some respect," Wally said, "That's no way to treat people, dude."

Shishikura seemed dumbfounded by this rebuke.

Yoarshi slapped him on the back good naturedly, making him almost lurch off his feet. "There now, Shishikura. See, your passion is too much for them. Not everyone is used to you. Eh?"

The rest of the Shiketsu class ignored what happened.

"You're going to get in trouble for disrespecting the school," Aizawa told Wally, "The teachers will take it personally."

Wally shrugged and went on ahead.

"Maybe they should, for letting one of their students speak that way to another," Shine said, "Not that Bakugo does not cross the line on occasion himself, but not to that level... and he shouldn't either. I can't understand why you allow such poor sportsmanship. Or does it not exist here? Maybe you should think about how demoralising it is for the students to listen to that. They are stressed enough as it is."

Most of them had gone on, but few of the students could hear her.

Midnight rolled her eyes. "Oh, here come another one of the infamous Likstar lectures about things she doesn't understand to us licensed Pros. Tell me, if you're so wise, why aren't you one of the top ranked heroes?"

Aizawa shook his head at this.

The kids winced on Shine's behalf. But Momo, Todoroki and Bakugo suspected she wasn't going to take that that seriously.

Iida hoped Shine would say nothing to embarrass them, but she turned and faced Midnight so he gave up all hope of that then.

"Perhaps for the simple reason that the top heroes don't strike me as very wise, Midnight," Shine said crisply, "and I might catch their foolishness if I was like them. It seems to be pretty contagious. But if you really think I've no idea what I'm talking about, let me ask you how many of your former students do you check in with regularly to see what's going on in their lives?"

"Uh... well, that would be a lot of students... and what does that have to do with anything?" Midnight said.

"I check in with all of mine," Shine said tightly, "They're doing great. But it's really of no consequence-- a child would have better sense than certain people I could mention in the Hero world. But really, why do you disagree about trash talking? Doesn't it anger you when other heroes take jabs at you?"

Midnight frowned. "Hey, what do you know? You can act all high and mighty, but it's not like anyone takes you seriously around here. Face it, Likstar, you're just a babysitter. You're not important. And you're living off our charity."

"Is that what you call it?" Shine said.

"Enough," Aizawa said, "You're making a scene, and students can see you."

"You're right." Shine bowed. "I'm sorry. It's a bad example to set for them. I guess it's a case in point though. It's only wrong when I do it, isn't it? Those hero licenses are truly a license to do anything you want around here and not be held accountable." She looked right at Midnight before walking away.

"I hate her," Midnight said.

"Could you hide it a little more from the students?" Aizawa said, "Like it or not, for the time being, Likstar and West are part of our staff. We need to act like it."

He didn't add that the students all seemed to be slowly starting to like them more, and it might be a problem if that became a factor in this.

Meanwhile, the bulk of the classes were checking out the training area. It was kind of like the USJ, and where they'd taken the licensing exam.

"This is pretty lit, fahm," Camie said, "It'd be so bogus if it was majorly lame after we came all this way. What a relief, am I right? It's very cash-money of them to let us kick it in here."

"Am I the only one who can't understand anything she says?" Sato scratched his head.

"She seems a little different than I remember," Sero said, "Was she always so ditzy?"

"Ditzy is good," Mineta said creepily, "Girls like that have low standards."

"I doubt any girl has low enough standards for you to reach, literally or figuratively, Mineta," Tsu said.

"Wow..." Kaminari said, "That was just brutal..."

Deku was eyeing Camie a little nervously out of the corner of his eye, and so was Uraraka.

Bakugo didn't understand what their problem was. "What are you idiots on about? You've never even met these weirdos."

"Midoriya did," Sero said, winking, "It was quite the experience."

"More like it was really scary," Deku said.

"The h-- are you talking about, Deku?" Bakugo said.

"Uh... well... you know, it's better not to bring it up..." Deku said nervously.

Todoroki glanced over. "Whatever you remember, you probably shouldn't base any attacks off of it. That wasn't the actual Utsushimi... I don't remember meeting most of the class at all.... Yoarshi is pretty much the same though."

"Wait, what?" Mina said, "How is it not the actual Camie?"

Momo remembered the boys talking about Camie, and thought it would be a good thing if that had not been the real her.

"I guess the LOV replaced her." Todoroki didn't remember much about the explanation. "It was kind of convoluted... You should ask her."

"Don't do that, moron," Bakugo said, "Why would you ask someone that? It's not important. We just need to focus on winning."

"Oh, come on, man, this sounds like a good story," Sero said, "If that wasn't her, I want to know just how different it was."

Shine had joined them again in time to hear this last part. "Just what did she do before that made you so interested, Sero?"

"Oh... uh... geez, Miss Likstar, I really can't tell you. It wouldn't be right," Sero said sheepishly, "Since you're a lady and all. And one of those real proper types."

Shine blinked. "I see... Well, since it was Toga we're talking about, I wouldn't hold anything she did to Camie's record, and if I hear anyone mention it to her, I will personally ensure they get in trouble for it."

The boys cringed. "Right..." Kaminari said.

"It's disgusting anyway," Jiro said.

"Yo." Camie came up to them right then. "Hey, Mr. Honey Badger, did your plan work?"

"What plan?" Kirishima said.

Bakugo glared at Camie. "Frick off!"

"Oh, gotcha," she said, as if she'd just now noticed his friends, "Lates... Todoroki, we should totes hang after this. It'd be poggers."

"I don't think we'll be allowed," Todoroki said. He hoped not.

"You seem pretty familiar," Momo noted, "I guess you all must have had fun in remedial."

"No, I don't understand her at all," Todoroki said, "Bakugo and her seemed to get along okay... at least as much as he gets along with anyone, so she's tolerant, but that's about all I know. I can't understand how she talks."

"Yes, I don't really recognize it myself," Momo said.

"It's lingo," Shine said to them.

"Lingo?" Todoroki said.

"Yes... at least, I'm hearing it as very Gen Z slang. Lingo, particularly the California variety," Shine said, "I'm also hearing her with a California accent. Don't know if that's just the equivalent of it... Basically she sounds just like my cousins and younger siblings' friends. Honestly, makes me miss them just listening to her."

"I can't see how by any stretch of logic it makes sense that you could hear her that way," Todoroki said.

"Call it having a sense of humor, Todoroki," Shine said dryly.

Then she addressed Camie. "Yo, sis, I'm digging your vibe. Are you, like, a fan of America or something? Or is it just a whole thing for me?"

Camie looked at her with new respect. "Yo, girl, idk, but you seem pretty chill. I should get your digits so I can hit you up sometime."

"I wish, but I don't have a phone," Shine said, "It's kind of lowkey a crime."

"That's totally jacked," Camie said, "but, like, if you get one, get in touch, fahm. I dig your vibe too. That had me dead."

"I guess I was kind of shook too," Shine said. "I'm also not very good at this. It's all secondhand knowledge. I can just sort of keep up." She shrugged sheepishly.

"It wasn't bad, for a sec there," Camie said generously, "but you are a little last season maybe. Gotta upload on the lingo, sis."

"I'm too old to care," Shine said, as if she wasn't just about 7 years their senior, "I downloaded it too late."

"This is somehow worse than before," Todoroki said.

"I have no idea what just happened," Sero said.

Deku just thought he was glad that Camie might not be as scary as his original encounter, but something about her still kind of freaked him out, just the way she spoke. She seemed to know Kaachan though.... That was odd.